The Champions
by TheSenjuMan
Summary: A companion piece to Enter the Spider-Clan: Redux. Inspired by IT and The Goonies. When an astral being of unknown origin arrives in Brooklyn and leaves behind a trail of blood, it's up to five kids to put a stop to its reign of terror. Rated K plus for one or two swear words later on.
1. Who Dat Boy?

**Brooklyn, New York**

Nightfall in Brooklyn had the same kind of vibe as night in any other borough in New York: desolate and grim.

It was exactly like most of the other alleyways in the Big Apple: dirty, graffiti-ridden, and full of trash and a smashed up car. Aside from the homeless and maybe an unlucky victim of a mugging, most people in this city didn't fancy a stroll down the alleyways. However, this particular alleyway had something special. If one could call it that.

A gust of wind and a thundering sound boomed throughout the alleyway; a crackle of electricity emerged in mid-air and a black hole developed soon afterwards. A random man, disheveled and wearing tattered clothes could only stare at the black hole, transfixed.

"What in God's name?" the man whispered. Things took a far more interesting turn when black tendrils started stretching and flailing from outside of the hole. A growling noise from within the hole and tendrils was heard.

"Oh Jesus," the homeless man mumbled.

The tendrils struck like lightning, enveloping the man and crushing his body from the outside; the tendrils proceeded to pull the man toward the black hole and the only thing that could be heard were his screams. His body was soon spat back out onto the floor.

After almost a minute, the wind and the crackling of electricity stopped; a figure came tumbling down from mid-air and landed harshly on the ground. It was a figure covered in pitch black darkness with glowing white eyes and what looked like wings protruding from its back. Judging from the body shape and the long and equally as dark hair, the figure was most definitely a female.

The female slowly rose to stand, panting heavily and moving her head from left to right. She sniffed the air twice.

"Shathra smells you, little one," the female said. "Little spider..."

Shathra's wings began buzzing and she took off into the night sky, on her journey to find whatever it was that she was searching for.

* * *

**Visions Academy**

**Midwood, Brooklyn**

Visions Academy, one of the most prestigious schools in Brooklyn and possibly the rest of New York...according to most people.

Miles Morales, eleven years old, is not most people. He only got into the school out of some lottery contest where the questions were pathetically easy to answer and he got a perfect score. Even now in the school, he found it incredibly boring, especially in algebra class.

Where he was currently falling asleep.

Truth be told, the young boy oh so desperately wanted to be somewhere else at the moment: Prospect Park, Manhattan, anywhere but here.

"Mr. Morales!" the teacher snapped, waking the boy out of his stupor.

"What?" Miles asked.

"Are you not being entertained by this class?" the teacher, Mrs. Bowers, snarked. "Clearly I'm too boring for you."

"No, it's not-"

"Care to answer this question then," Mrs. Bowers challenged, pointing to the projector screen.

Miles narrowed his eyes at the screen, his eyes not agreeing with the bright lights. As he got a better look at the question, he scoffed. "The answer is three radical forty-seven," he replied.

"That's..." Mrs. Bowers looked at the screen and her eyes widened. "Correct. I guess I did underestimate you."

"Don't worry ," Miles began. "Lotta people do. I be paying attention. It won't happen again. I promise."

"See that it doesn't. You're already on thin ice."

Thirty minutes later, algebra class was over and Miles walked among the crowd breathing a sigh of relief.

"Glad that's over with," Miles said.

"I know," a voice rang out beside Miles. "If I had to sit through ten more minutes of that, dude..."

The other young boy, Sam Alexander, had tan skin, black hair and was also wearing the same kind of uniform Miles had on. He had a devilish grin on his face as he looked at Miles backpack; one of the straps was being held together by Scotch tape.

"Money's running low, huh?"

"Shut up, Sam. Always talking smack, man," Mile retorted, sharing Sam's grin. The two boys playfully shoved each other as they arrived to their lockers."

"We still on for that DragonBall Super marathon this weekend?" Miles asked as he opened up his locker.

"You know it. My mom's gonna be busy with whatever the heck she does, I dunno, but yeah. All day, no parents, all junk food and soda!" Sam said, enthusiasm in his voice.

"That's what I'm talkin' about, son!" Miles cheered, hi-fiving Sam. "And then we're gonna watch Princess Mononoke, right?"

"I just got the DVD last night, dude. Total classic," Sam replied.

"Tch. DVD? Come on. Netflix is where it's at, my dude." Miles and Sam looked behind them to see a brown skinned young girl with equally as brown hair which was covered by a silk hood.

"Hey Kamala," Miles greeted.

Kamala Khan smiled at both Miles and Sam. "Hey, you two. What're you all getting turnt up about?"

"I want you to never say that again," Sam replied. "Anyways, me and Miles are getting our Dragonball Super on this weekend, bro!"

Sam proceeded to form his hands in a 'kame-hame-ha' gesture and thrust his hands toward Miles, who sank to the floor in an over dramatic fashion. Kamala rolled her eyes at the sight of the two of them laughing.

"Nerd alert. What is it with you boys and corny action shows?" Kamala asked.

"It ain't corny!" Miles protested. "It's bomb as heck. You should watch it sometimes."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Kamala dismissed.

"She's a girl, Miles. She wouldn't understand. She probably watches that Steven Universe show. Now that's corny," Sam said, patting Miles on the back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kamala replied, her voice taking on a dangerous edge.

Sam gulped. "I-I said, uh, K-kamala has better things t-to do."

"That's what I thought you said," Kamala said, smiling and nodding. Her face soon settled into a neutral expression as she took out her phone. "Did you guys hear about that guy they found in an alleyway a few days ago?"

"Really?" Sam rang up.

"Yeah, my pops was telling me something about that," Miles added. "He said the place was covered in blood and guts and all that."

"Eww," Sam said. "Stop talking about it, son!"

"I'm jus-what? That's too extra?" Miles wondered. "I wouldn't worry too much. Y'all know my boy Scarlet Spider's gonna find out who did it."

"Whatever you say, fanboy," Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"Why I gotta be a fanboy just because I like him?"

"Dude, you spent, like, twenty whole minutes gushing about him during your report on people you admire," Sam reminded him. "Either that or you got a crush on him."

"Ugh, I don't got a crush on him, son!" Miles said.

"Besides, those spider-people are weak. Now the Guardians of the Galaxy! That's where it's at!" Sam replied.

"Oh what, with that one dude with the little water squirter guns?"

"That's Star-Lord! And his 'element guns' are fire!" Sam argued.

"Hey Sam, check this out," Kamala said.

The brown skinned girl showed Sam the picture on her phone, making him cover his eyes. "Why are you showing me that, girlie?!"

"Aw, what's the matter? Scared?" Kamala teased.

"No, stop it. Get it away from me! Save me, Miles!" Sam began running down the halls, with Kamala chasing him the entire way through, laughing as she did so.

Miles shook his head at the two and closed his locker. "Those two, man."

Before the next class started, Miles headed to the bathroom to wash his hands.

While in the bathroom, Miles was busy washing his hands and thinking about two things: the upcoming weekend with Sam, and his other little dilemma. Ever since that strange green gas hit all the boroughs three months ago, strange things had been going on with him. His hands would stick to surfaces, he could jump really high and climb walls, and he had a-

Miles felt a strange tingling in the back of his head, causing him to shoot up and look in the mirror. "Yo!" he called out. "Someone else in here?"

The boy got no answer and picked up his backpack. When he stood back up, he looked in the mirror and saw a pitch black, wasp-like figure.

"Little spider..." the figure croaked out

Yelping, he quickly turned around and saw...

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Miles shook his head and ran his right hand through his afro. "That's it, son. No more beef bacon before bed for me."

He walked out of the bathroom and headed to his next class, trying to banish the incident from his mind.

* * *

**This is another story idea of mine, but featuring the younger Marvel characters. The main characters here are all eleven years old.**

**Miles Morales: Fanboy of Kaine Parker, intelligent and nerdy. Uncle's a well-known criminal who comes by to visit.**

**Sam Alexander: Not as intelligent as Miles, but still pretty nerdy. Father disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Giant dork.**

**Kamala Khan: Pakistani-American. Really into Twitter and Instagram. Slightly dark sense of humor.**

**Anya Corazon: Bubbly, giddy, girly. Really loves Spanish music. Fangirl of Jessica Parker after being saved by her. A total cinnamon roll.**

**America Chavez: Tough, short-tempered, takes no mess from anyone. Loves hip-hop. Thinks the rest are complete dorks.**

**And the villain Shathra. Go look her up.**

**Anyways, leave a comment on this story or whether or not you like it or whatever.**


	2. Who Dem Girls?

At 3:15 p.m. school had let out at Visions Academy; the crowds of young kids and burgeoning teens came bustling out of the front entrance, nearly stampeding all over each other in a hurry to get out of he stuffy institution. Such kids in the crowd were Miles, Sam and Kamala; the trio were laughing alongside each other.

"Dude, I can't believe you actually said that in our social studies class," Miles said, laughing the whole time. The three were walking down the entrance stairway.

"Well, yeah. It's my personal motto: 'if you step in dog doodie'...and I live by that," Sam said, grinning.

Miles put a hand over his heart and nodded. "Truer words have never been spoken."

Kamala looked at the two and raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't say that Sam. A better one would be: if you get suspended off Twitter, it's always someone else's fault."

"Are you still salty about getting kicked off over posting that one meme of that Carol Danvers chick, son?" Miles wondered.

"Yeah. Says that the meme 'didn't reflect their values'," Kamala mocked, using air-quotations. "Tch. Jerks. I love her, that's why I posted it. Didn't even get that many re-tweets anyway. Whatever."

"Miles! Man, check out your boy," Sam said. Miles looked over to Sam, who had his phone out, and saw an image of the second Scarlet Spider giving a rather...inappropriate gesture to the camera.

"That's fire," Miles complimented. "Total fire. Like something Tyler the Creator would do."

"Isn't that guy a little too mature for you, Miles?" Kamala said.

"Oh come on, Kamala. Don't be such a goody two shoes, son," Miles chastised. "Besides, that IGOR album: bomb."

"I am not a goody two shoes!" Kamala retorted. "I once helped you spray-paint that wall in Prospect Park**(1)**!"

"Wasn't that good from what I heard," Sam said.

Kamala blushed and fiddled with her hijab. "I-it's supposed...stop picking on me, you guys!" she said, pouting as Miles and Sam laughed.

"Anyways, Prospect Park again, you guys?" Miles asked, to which Sam and Kamala shook their heads. The trio were at the bike rack, preparing to get their bikes.

"Nah, dude. I gotta get home right now or else my mom's gonna flip. We're having taco night, bee tee dubs," Sam said.

"My dad's reading me more scriptures," Kamala said. "It can get kinda annoying at times. Like, yeah dad, I've read the book. I get it now."

"Dang, son. Oh wait a minute!" Miles called out before his friends could leave.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, yo Sam," Miles began, looking at his friend. A scared look painted over the young Afro-Latino's face. "Um...you been noticing anything, uh, s-strange in school today, son?"

"Other than that mystery meat they tried to give us, not really," Sam answered. "Why?"

"B-because, uh...nah. Y-you know what? Forget it," Miles dismissed.

"Miles, are you ok?" Kamala asked, worry etching her tone.

"Y-yeah. Yeah, it's nothing," he reassured.

"Ooook then. This weekend, still?" Sam asked.

"Oh you know it," Miles answered, bro-fisting Sam. "But you might have to come down to Flatbush. I dunno what's happening all over Midwood and all that."

"Alright then, that's cool," Sam replied. "Wait, do I gotta get on the B or the Q?"

"The Q, son!" Miles answered, shocked. "How long have you been in New York again? Years?"

"I'm too used to Arizona, dude! We didn't have to deal with all this train stuff," Sam complained.

Kamala smirked and pinched Sam's cheek. "Aww, you'll get it one day."

Miles bro-fisted Kamala as the trio got on their bikes and paddled off; Sam to his home within Midwood, and Miles and Kamala to the nearest subway station.

Miles' head tingled once more with that strange feeling, but for now, he chose to ignore it.

* * *

**Prospect Park**

**Brooklyn, New York**

Prospect Park, the second biggest park in all of Brooklyn. It's a beautiful park, akin the Central in Manhattan, full of waterways, long stretches of grass, nice trees, especially during this October, and a very well known boathouse.

All in all, one would expect this to be a pretty uneventful place. Right?

For one Anya Sofia Corazon, it was anything but.

Currently, young Anya was running as fast as she can, being chased by a boy with black hair and a brown jacket alongside his similarly degenerate looking friends. Anya jumped over a settlement of rocks to avoid the gang of young boys, panting heavily as she continued running; sweat dripped down her brow and her hair flailed everywhere.

Unfortunately, Anya's luck got even worse when she tripped over a stray branch, scraping her knee. The eleven year old girl hissed in pain as she clutched her knee. At that moment, the gang of young boys caught up to her and were now standing over her.

"Gotcha, stupid," the black haired boy said. "Get her up, boys!"

His two other friends did as he said and hoisted Anya up, gripping her roughly. "Let me go, Lee**(2)**!" she yelled out, trying to kick at him.

"Shut up!" the boy, Lee, growled. He took out a pocket knife from his coat pocket and held it up to Anya's face. "Now, where should we start first, huh girlie? Ooh!" Lee slid the knife under Anya's right eye. "Let's see what you'll like as a pirate girl."

Before Lee could continue his torment of Anya, he felt something hit the back of his head, knocking him off balance.

"Leave her alone!"

Lee and his friends turned around to see a young, dark skinned girl similar to Anya but different; this girl was slightly bigger, with a red hat turned backwards, a blue and white hoodie with a star on it, and red shorts. The girl was storming up to them with a scowl on her face.

"Well boys, look at this," Lee said, smirking. "Wanna throw another rock at me?"

"Let her go, man. She ain't do nothin' to you," the girl said.

"Make me," Lee challenged.

That's when the bigger girl growled and tackled Lee to the ground, punching and slapping at him while doing so. One of Lee's friends grabbed the girl by the hair and dragged her off of Lee. The two lackeys attempted to beat up the other girl, but Anya jumped on the back of one of them and started pushing him to the ground.

The bigger girl stepped on the foot of the one who grabbed her by the hair and then kicked him where the sun didn't shine.

"You clowns want some more?" the bigger girl challenged, her hands balled into fists.

Lee and his friends looked at Anya and the other girl. "This ain't over, you!" he said, pointing to both of them. "Come on fellas, let's get outta here."

Anya and her savior watched as the gang of young hooligans ran off. "You ok, chica?" the other girl asked Anya.

"_Si. Gracias por salvarme,"_ Anya replied.

"_Ah, no fue nada,"_ Anya's savior said, chuckling. "_No me gustan los matones no como." _**(3)**

"What's you name?" Anya asked, switching back to English.

Anya watched as the other girl smiled, revealing that she had a few teeth still coming in on both the top and bottom half of her mouth.

"America Chavez," she replied.

Anya smiled at the bigger Latina. "I'm Anya," the aforementioned girl said. "Wanna play with me?"

"Sure. Got nothin' better to do here," America said.

"Your hair's pretty," Anya said, looking at America's brown hair.

America smiled and fluffed Anya's hair. "Yours ain't so bad either, chica."

"Wanna play jump rope?" Anya asked.

"Sure," America answered.

"Just lemme get my backpack, ok?"

America nodded and Anya ran off to the waterway she was at before to get her backpack, hoping that it wasn't gone. When Anya arrived at the spot two minutes later, she saw that her backpack was still there.

"_Gracias a Dios,"_ Anya mumbled. As she went to get her backpack, she noticed something floating in the water near her. She looked at it and saw that a jump rope was floating. Anya reached over to grab the rope, but was surprised that a pitch black hand erupted from the water and grabbed her hand.

Anya yelped and looked as someone rose out of the water, who was as pitch black as the hand and had wasp-like wings.

"Shathra will give you to her children, little spider," the being growled, baring its teeth.

Anya screamed and tried to wrestle her little arm out of Shathra's grip, but to no avail. Shathra inched closer to her, but stopped all of a sudden and sank back into the water. Anya squirmed out of Shathra's grip as she sank back into the water.

Anya ran as fast as she could back to where America was waiting. "Whoa, what's wrong?" America asked.

Anya panted before she answered her. "S-s-s-someone tried to grab me."

"Who?" America growled, ready to get in another fight.

"N-no one," Anya replied. She shook her head and smiled at America. "Wanna play now?"

"Yeah," America answered. "Then after, we can like, skip pebbles and watch the ducks fly away and stuff."

"Yay!" Anya cheered.

* * *

Miles arrived at Prospect Park some thirty minutes after he left Visions Academy. He had taken the Q with Kamala before they got off and went their separate ways and he had to bike ride all the way to the famous park.

He took his backpack off and looked inside to see the canisters full of red and black spray paint. He smirked and chuckled at the reassurance that his can were full and began walking around the park.

Miles did love Prospect Park and not solely because it was the most famous park that was near him and convenient; he loved it because of the quiet atmosphere and the feeling of getting away from the hustle and bustle of Flatbush.

The rhymes of Tyler the Creator blasted in his ear as he was walking around. Soon, he caught the sight of two dark skinned girls, one of which he recognized. He took off his headphones and smiled.

"Yo Anya!" he called out, jogging toward her.

Anya, who was skipping rocks across the pond with America, looked toward the boy and smiled. "Miles!" she called out. As Miles arrived, she jumped up and hugged him, making him laugh.

"Hey Anya," he greeted.

"Ooh, ooh, Miles," Anya began, grabbing his hand. "This is my new friend. Her name's America."

Miles was greeted to the sight of America, who he noticed was slightly bigger than Anya and about as big as him. "So what's up?" Miles introduced.

"Nothin' much," America replied.

"She saved me from that jerk Lee," Anya said.

Miles scowled. "Him again? What's up with him, son?"

"I dunno," Anya shrugged. "But America fought him off, so we're cool now."

"Oh, good looking out, girl," Miles said, hi-fiving America.

"No problem. Girls gotta stick together, ya know?" America said, patting Anya on the back. Anya giggled at the gesture.

"Yeah, ok," Miles responded. His phone buzzed in his pocket. "Hello? Oh hey, pops. Uh-huh. Oh...oh dang. Oh ok. Nah, it's cool, it's cool. I'll tell her right now. See you."

Miles hung up his phone and looked at Anya. "Hey, uh, you and my pops is gonna be out for a long night, Anya. Wanna walk home together?"

"Oh, ok," Anya said. "What was happening?"

"He didn't say, son," Miles replied. "But it's all right."

"Hey chico," America began. "Wanna skip rocks and watch the ducks fly off?"

"Would I?" Miles said, a smile on his face.

"Hold up, hold up," Anya said. "Miles? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Miles lost his smile and nodded. The two walked about ten feet away from America as they were about to talk. "What's up, Anya?" Miles asked.

"Something happened today, Miles," Anya began.

"What?"

"I was at one of the ponds, and then this weird lady came up from the water and g-g-grabbed my arm," Anya said, stammering. "S-s-she said she wanted to give me to her children."

Miles frowned at the news Anya gave him. "For real, son?"

Anya nodded. Miles moved closer and put a hand on the scared young girl's shoulder.

"I-I know where you coming from, Anya," Miles said. "I've seen her too."

"Who is she?"

Miles sucked in a breath and looked up at the sky. "I dunno, Anya. I dunno."

* * *

**1) See Enter the Spider-Clan: Redux chapter 37.**

**2) Lee Price is a character in Marvel that becomes the third holder of the Mania symbiote.**

**3) "Yes. Thanks for saving me."**

**"Ah, it was nothing. I don't like bullies no how."**

**Yep. Now I've introduced Anya and America.**

**Be sure to give this a read and a review if you feel like it.**


	3. All in Together Now Pt I

The subway tunnels of all the boroughs were always stuffy, uncomfortable, and had a vibe that screamed out 'A ROBBERY OR SOMETHING IS ABOUT TO POP OFF.' For most New Yorkers, it was to be expected and brushed off. As one can say, you get used to it.

In one of said tunnels in Brooklyn, there was a crowd of people arriving and getting off at the station, hustling and bustling as to be expected in such an overpopulated borough. From the ceiling, a set of white eyes surveyed the crowd, gazing intensely at the hustle and bustle.

Shathra had been frustrated that she had not been able to get two potential victims from earlier today; the boy could sense her presence and the girl was easier, but managed to fight her off. However, those two could wait; they were special, the being rationalized.

Shathra, still looking into the crowd, caught sight of a blonde girl who had dropped her doll onto the ground. Others were passing by and either getting on or off the subway, giving the blonde no attention. Shathra grinned at the sight.

Black tendrils drooped from the ceiling and floated behind the unsuspecting girl; with lighting speed, the tendrils grabbed the girl by the waist and covered her mouth to prevent any screams from getting out. The tendrils lifted the girl onto the ceiling and now she was face to face with the sight of Shathra; the mysterious being was grinning with sadistic delight, drooling at the sight of the helpless young girl squirming to get out of her reach.

* * *

Nightfall had come as quickly to the neighborhood of Flatbush as the seconds ticking by naturally.

Miles lay in his bed staring at the ceiling, reflecting on what Anya and he had spoken about during their time at Prospect Park; apparently, she had also seen the mysterious lady just as he had seen her in the mirror at school. He lay wondering if he was gonna see this mysterious figure again at school.

_'Thank God she didn't kill her or me, son,'_ he thought to himself.

Miles sighed and threw the covers off himself, revealing that he was in his more urban clothes, which included a red hoodie, blue pants, and tennis shoes. He got up and moved to his backpack, which was filled with spray paint cans. He grinned and threw his backpack onto his shoulder. Miles moved to his window, opened it, and looked out the window.

"I hope this don't kill me," he mumbled to himself. Miles shimmied out of the opened window and began crawling up the wall of the apartment building.

"Aw crap," he said as he was crawling upward, nearly knocking over someone's potted plant.

When he got to the rooftop of his apartment building, he walked over to the edge and saw the next building nearby. Grinning, Miles walked back a few feet and ran toward the ledge, jumping to the next building. Call him weird, but it's as if his other sense, that tingling in his head, was telling him how much momentum he needed to make it across. He landed on the next building rooftop, rolling as he hit the ground.

After jumping over a few more buildings east of his home, Miles made it to a billboard that had an unfinished design of a spider on it; he climbed onto the ledge of the billboard and took out a red spray paint can and began spraying.

"Just wait 'till the Scarlet Spider gets a load of this, son," Miles said to himself.

The young boy had always been into graffiti; even though his dad would always say that graffiti tagging wasn't good and left the city looking worse for wear, Miles had always been drawn to the street art. The cool designs, the vibrant colors, it was appealing.

Miles was so engrossed by his graffito art that he failed to notice someone else. "Way too much red for me, but whatever," a voice said.

Miles nearly dropped his paint can and fell off the edge as he turned around to see who it was. A young, dark skinned girl was looking at him.

"You flinched," the young girl told Miles, giggling.

"Oh hey, Kamala," Miles greeted.

"Hey Miles," Kamala replied. "BT-dubs, bomb graffito you got there."

"Thanks," Miles replied. "Gotta show more props to the Scarlet Spider. He's the most cool out of all those spider people in Manhattan."

"Nerd," Kamala teased, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, I am not a nerd," Miles retorted, his voice cracking. "I am so cool that even cold doesn't eff with me, son. And you're one to talk!"

"Sure." Kamala watched as Miles got down from the ledge of the billboard and walked toward her.

"Why you still up this late?" Miles asked.

"Couldn't sleep. That whole thing about the murder case has me on guard. They say they found another body in the subway tunnels," Kamala informed.

"For real?"

"Yup. Said that it was a little girl whose head...her head was gone, Miles," Kamala explained, her voice tinged with horror.

"Dang, son," Miles said. "That's crazy."

"Tell me something I don't know," Kamala commented.

"Well, I guess I'm gonna finish this tomorrow night," Miles said, looking up at the graffito.

"Wait wait wait!" Kamala exclaimed, grabbing Miles' right arm. "You know, you were acting really weird back when we left school earlier. What was that about?"

Miles bit his lip and looked from both sides. "Th-there was something I saw in the bathroom mirror earlier today. There was this...I dunno what she is, but I know it's some woman. She was all pitch black and...there were these wings and eyes she had and she-you don't believe me, do you?"

"I dunno, Miles," Kamala admitted. "It sounds kinda freaky. Like some monster movie or something. It's just a little too ridiculous, don't you think?"

"Kamala, we live in a city where aliens**(1)** and dudes in metallic bird outfits**(2)** are all over the place," Miles pointed out. "What's so cray about this, son?"

"Nothing, it's just..." Kamala let her sentence trail off as she walked back to the rooftop door. She turned around to look at her friend.

"Be careful, Miles," she advised, to which Miles nodded.

When she left, Miles jumped over the ledge and started traversing all over the rooftops of Flatbush, his destination being his home. Suddenly, the tingling in the back of his head flared up and he looked down at the streets below; he saw a squad of cop cars driving with furious determination down the empty streets, a rarity in the borough.

He shook his head at the sight, however; he couldn't be distracted by things such as that right now. So, he continued on his way home before either his mom or dad found out. As the squad of police cars passed him by, he jumped over another ledge, where the tingling in the back of his head flared up even stronger.

Jogging over to the next ledge, something compelled him to look down at the alleyway in between the two buildings. He crawled his way down onto the alleyway and was greeted with the sight of...

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Miles groaned and walked out of the alleyway, running a hand through his afro. "The heck is going on, son?" he asked himself. "That tingling..."

Walking onto the sidewalks of Flatbush, he was witness to a variety of things happening; random street kids battle rapping and tagging graffiti on walls, shady drug deals happening in front of stores, and about one or two drunk individuals yelling at each other in the middle of the crowded intersection. The activities witnessed were punctuated by the presence of profane hip hop music. Miles could only shake his head at all that he saw.

"Tch. Same stuff, different night," he mumbled, continuing on his merry way.

He walked for a few blocks until he spotted a convenience store that was open, a rarity in this part of the neighborhood. He entered through the door and looked around the strangely empty store. "Yo?" he called out. "Anyone home, son?"

Getting no answer and the tingling in his head reoccurring, he grabbed three Snickers bars and went up to the cashier counter, only to be met with a horrifying sight: it was the being he saw in the mirror from school, only this time, it was more intense. The creature was biting into the cashier's stomach, suckling sounds heard as she did so. She turned her head in a snap and caught wind of the terrified Miles.

Miles screamed and made a move to run out of the store, only to have his path blocked by Shathra. Miles turned back and ran, prompting Shathra to jump all over the store, making aisles and racks of snacks and other goods fly all over the place. Shathra nearly pounced Miles, only to pounce into the refrigerator filled with sodas and juices. During this time, Miles could hear the loud buzzing of Shathra's insect-like wings.

Miles, on the ground, scurried up to his feet, breathing heavily. "This isn't real, son! This can't be real!" he chanted to himself. As he was about to run out of the store, the lights went out and a voice rang up.

"M-miles?" the voice said.

"Anya? T-that you?" the young boy said.

"Oh thank you, Miles! Get me outta here!" the voice of Anya said. Miles moved to the piles of ruined snacks and drinks, rummaging through it all to find his friend. The lights suddenly flickered back on and Miles was now face to face with Shathra's glowing eyes. The creature threw Miles to a wall and cornered him.

"WH-WHO ARE YOU?!" Miles screamed out.

Shathra held Miles up by his neck, pinning him to the wall. "You know who Shathra is, little spider," she growled out. "With you, Shathra shall play." She looked down at the ground and then back up at Miles, baring her sharp teeth in a psychotic smile, drooling the entire time.

Out of nowhere, the being dropped Miles to the ground, looking at him with disdain from her glowing eyes. "Bored. Not strong enough yet," she hissed. As quickly as Shathra came, she was gone, vanishing in a black ether.

Miles wasted no time in getting the heck out of there, running as fast as he could.

* * *

**Two Days Later**

"Are you serious, dude?!"

"Sam, would I joke about something like this?!"

"It does sound like one..."

"Sam, come on, son!"

The conversation between Miles and Sam had quickly devolved as the two friends were walking the streets, eating lunch. Miles' harried and frantic tone did not emerge until Sam had asked what was going on with him the past couple of days.

"Dude, why didn't you say anything before?" Sam wondered. Currently, the two friends were waiting outside of an apartment building for Kamala to join them.

"I-I was scared, son. I didn't think you'd believe me. I told this to Kamala and even she was acting funny," Miles admitted.

"Look Miles, this all sounds freaky like I don't know what," Sam began. "But dude, you gotta calm down for a sec. And hold on; you told Kamala before me?"

"How can I calm down, son?!" Miles retorted. "Some crazy bug lady's coming after me. And Anya."

"Hey guys," Kamala said, approaching the two at their table. "Got caught up with a geology project."

"Enough of that, Kam," Sam said, dismissing the topic. "Can you get Miles here to chill out?"

Kamala looked at Miles, who was struggling to control himself. "It was her again, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Miles said, nodding. "In a store no less."

"That's weird," Sam said.

"How come?"

"I was on Twitter a few hours ago, right?" Sam began. "And I saw these pictures of the cops at some store that looked totally messed up. Found a dead body too."

"Another one?!" Kamala exclaimed.

"Yeah. You don't think-"

"You know what?" Miles rang up. "M-maybe I should take my mind off this. I'm going crazy, son. Maybe...the Scarlet Spider's already on this! Yeah!"

"And here he goes again," Kamala snarked.

"Shut up," Miles said, rolling his eyes. The three friends chuckled among one another and began moving off on their bikes.

"Hey! Wanna race, Sam?" Miles challenged, smiling.

"I'mma beat you, Miles!" Sam declared, peddling faster.

* * *

The trio got to Miles' block in about ten minutes, greeted with the sight of many kids playing in the middle of the empty street.

"I beat you!" Sam bragged. "I knew I could take you!"

"No you didn't, son!" Miles retorted. "You was eating my dust and you know it."

"Nah, the only one eating dust was Kamala over here," Sam said, pointing to the aforementioned girl.

"That's because I wasn't racing, you dummy!" Kamala said, adjusting her hijab so it would cover her hair. "Boys."

"What's wrong with us?" Miles asked. "Wh-what we do?"

"You're being stupid like most boys are," Kamala admitted, sticking her tongue out.

"Whatever, son."

The trio set their bikes on the side of Miles' apartment building.

"You know I beat you. There's nothing wrong with saying it," Miles said.

"Oh yeah?" Sam said, his voice taking on a more dangerous tone. "There's only one way to settle this!" Sam proceeded to make a few silly, overdramatic gestures, including pumping his chest out.

"I'm gonna use my Ultra Instinct mode!" Sam declared.

"Hey! You can't use that, son! That ain't fair!" Miles complained.

"Yeah, I can!" Sam replied.

"I'm about to go all Super Saiyan God mode on you!" Miles called out. The two friends began chasing each other around the street, laughing the whole time. Kamala rolled her eyes at the two.

At that moment, a voice rang out. "Kamala!"

The aforementioned girl turned her head to see Anya with an unfamiliar bigger girl by her side. "Hey Anya!" Kamala said, greeting her.

"Ooh, this is my new friend, America!" Anya said, smiling and pulling America's arm.

America, chewing on bubblegum, popped a bubble. "What up, chica?" she introduced. "You friends with over here?"

"Yeah, we play sometimes," Kamala replied. She then smirked at Anya. "Like right now. Quick Anya! We gotta fuse!"

"We're gonna be Malachite again?" Anya said, her eyes glittering with hope.

"Heck no! We are Obsidian 2.0 once again!" Kamala shouted, pulling Anya toward her. The two made 'whoo'-ing sounds and pretended to fuse into one. America could only look on in confusion at the sight.

"Man, get that weak stuff outta here, son!" Miles said, walking over to the two.

"Hey! Don't call that show weak," Anya retorted. "Besides, Obsidian 2.0 will crush your Super thingy god stuff!"

"Uh-uh. Super Saiyan god mode stomps!" Sam said, approaching the group. He looked at America, who was crossing her arms and popping her bubblegum. "What's Cardi B doing here, dude?"

America rolled her eyes. "Oh ha ha. Not like I ain't heard that one before, **(3)**_pequeño_."

Sam gasped in horror. "That is mean! Miles, get her!"

"Nah, that's a good name for you," Kamala added, fist-bumping America, who was chuckling.

"I know, huh?" America commented.

Miles laughed at Sam's feigned horror. "Relax, Sam. It's just Anya's new friend. America, right?"

"Don't chu forget it," America said, smirking. "So Anya, what else ya do around here?"

Anya dislodged herself from Kamala to answer. "We wait for the ice cream man, play jump rope and pretend, hopscotch-"

"I got something better," America answered. "You nerds been to the junkyard before?"

* * *

**And there. Now all five of the kids are together. Next chapter will be more informative. See you soon.**

**1) The events of the first Avengers movie.**

**2) Spider-Man Homecoming reference.**

**3) "Little" in Spanish**


	4. All in Together Now Pt II

**Happy Halloween, everyone! I'm back.**

* * *

**On the F Train**

"You know," Kamala began, shifting uncomfortably. "When you said if we'd ever been to a junkyard before, you could've mentioned that it was all the way in Red Hook."

America, standing up and grasping one of the metal bars on the subway, rolled her eyes and popped her gum. "I coulda, but chu didn't ask where it was, so that's kinda your fault, dude."

"Isn't that place some kinda beach town or something?" Sam asked.

"Tch, you wish," Miles said, chuckling. "It's like one of them sea ports you see in all those pirate movies and all that. But imagine that combined with the most ghetto place ever."

"Just picture it: Keel the port blubber, homie!" Anya exclaimed excitedly, making all the other patrons on the subway look at her in confusion. The young girl could only laugh nervously and try to hide her face.

"See, chica here doesn't mind," America said, ruffling Anya's hair.

Sam groaned. "How much longer? This is so boring."

Miles looked at his phone, which read 1:20 p.m. "It's only ten more minutes, man."

"Yeah, man. Quit whinin' so much," America teased, making Sam pout even more. Kamala chuckled at seeing his expression.

"Why do you always gotta gang up on me?" Sam wondered.

"It's funny," Kamala answered, prompting America to fist bump her.

Anya placed her earbuds in her ears to take her mind off everything. "_Hands on the wheel, uhh eff that, hands on the wheel"_**(1)** she sang.

"Is she for real listenin' to that?" America asked.

"You don't like Schoolboy Q much?" Miles asked.

"Heck no. I love him and ASAP!" America said. She then squeezed herself between Miles and Anya and took the right earbud of Anya's and began listening.

"_Weed and brews, weed and brews, life for me is just weed and brews!" _the two Latina girls sang in unison. However, as Anya began to get into the groove of things, she felt a weird tingling in the back of her head. It compelled her to squint her eyes at the window, which showed the view of the various neighborhoods of the borough. Unexpectedly, she could have sworn that she saw a vision of a wasp-like woman.

**The Junkyard**

**Red Hook, Brooklyn**

The time it took for the five kids to bike ride all the way to the junkyard from the subway station was around five minutes. They, especially Miles, took great joy in racing each other there and trash talking each other as they did so. Unfortunately, karma nearly struck the Afro-Latino when he nearly sped into an open manhole; good thing his...tingle was able to save him, just barely so.

The junkyard itself was just as advertised: a giant, open lot filled with nothing but broken, ruined pieces of cars and other miscellaneous objects lost and forgotten by the annals of time.

"This is...welcoming," Kamala said, uneasy.

"Yeah," Sam said. "It kinda reminds me of my house's kitchen whenever my dad would get three packs of beer for the Super Bowl."

The other four kids looked at Sam with expressions of astonishment.

"What?" Miles exclaimed.

"Or the World Series. Any excuse for him to drink really," Sam continued, shrugging.

"Ya got issues, _hombre,_" America commented.

"Don't we all?"

"Guys, look at this," Miles said, bringing everyone's attention to something; it was a smashed up 1981 Mercedes-Benz, which also had a lot of graffiti tagged on it.

A grinning Miles climbed on top of one of the smashed up car's roof. "Look, son!" he said to the other four. "I'm the king of this piece!"

"Not on my watch!" Anya declared, following Miles onto the roof of the car. Miles raised his eyebrow at the challenge.

"Catch me if you can!" Miles said, jumping high onto a pile up of junk. Anya's eyes momentarily widened before she smirked and followed suit. Sam, Kamala, and America watched on, completely shocked at the sight of the two young kids jumping with skills comparable to Mario.

"You seein' this?" America asked the other two.

"I know, I can hardly believe it myself," Kamala admitted.

"Dude...that is awesome!" Sam cheered. "Although I don't know if I should feel jealous or hit both of them."

"You hit chica, you mess wit' me, buddy," America threatened, making Sam gulp.

"Uh-I-I mean, I'm gonna hit Miles," Sam corrected.

After running around for a few minutes, the trio watched as Miles and Anya jumped down to the ground in front of them. "Sup guys," Anya said.

Before Sam could say anything, Kamala marched forward and hit Miles in the shoulder. "OW!" the Afro-Latino said. "The heck was that for?!"

"So that's how you were able to tag those rooftops!" Kamala said.

"To do what now?" America questioned.

"We'll explain later," Sam told her.

"And you, Anya," Kamala said, pointing at her. "Just what in the funkin' wagos is going on here?"

Miles and Anya looked at each other and sighed. "You guys remember a few months ago when that weird green gas came up outta nowhere?" Miles asked.

Kamala, Sam and America nodded. "Yeah, that was crazy, right?" Sam said.

"Thank God my Mom and Mom told me to get back in the house beforehand," America said.

"You have two moms?" Kamala asked.

"So what?" America growled, making Kamala take two steps back.

"Nothing, it's cool. That's cool," Kamala appeased, which made America smile once more.

"Anyway," Anya said. "That green gas changed me and Miles. One day I was normal-"

"-the next I could climb on walls and stuff, son," Miles finished. "Then, I get this tingling in the back of my head every time something's about to go down."

"And, I can also do this!" Anya announced, excited. She formed her hand into the 'rock-on' symbol and a string of white webbing shot of from her wrist, connecting with the pile up of smashed up cars.

"Oh that some bull right there!" Miles complained. "You get the cool webs and I don't?!"

"'Cause it's for cool people!" Anya shot back, smirking.

"I'm cool! Right guys?!"

"That tinglin' you was talkin' about? Is it like one o' those 'psychics' ya see back in the City?**(2)**" America asked, ignoring Miles' complaint.

"No, America," Anya corrected. "My cousin Aracely, on the other hand..."

"I remember you told me about what happened to her,**(3)**" Kamala said. "I hope she's recovering alright."

Anya looked down to the ground. "She's...ever since that crazy dude took her and we got her back, she's different now. Like before we got on the train, I was getting my stuff and she told me 'She's coming, Anya,'" she said.

"Who's coming?" America wondered.

"I think I know," Kamala answered. "That weird bug lady you were telling me and Sam about, isn't it?"

"Can somebody please tell me what the heck ya all are talkin' about?" America said, frustrated.

Miles, Sam, Kamala, and Anya all looked at each other and then at America, who had her arms crossed. "You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Kamala said.

"We live in a place where giant, freaky aliens invaded the City. What's scarier than that?" America retorted.

"SEE?! I TOLD YOU, SON!" Miles said, pointing at Kamala.

* * *

**The Streets of Red Hook**

**Sundown**

The group of five were riding their bikes all through the streets, which were eerily empty at the present moment; no one, not even normal pedestrians crossing the streets or ice cream men, were there.

"So ya tellin' me," America began, popping a wheelie. "That there's some crazy lady wit' wings comin' after you and chica over here?"

"America, would we lie about something like this?" Anya pointed out.

"I dunno, man. It just seems like somethin' out of a Halloween special or somethin'. Or some dude's crappy fanfic," America replied. "Do ya even know how to beat it?"

"If I knew, you think I'd be scared outta my mind, son?" Miles said in annoyance.

"Ok, ok, sheesh," America said.

Kamala, who was riding alongside her friends, suddenly backpedaled and braked on her bicycle.

"Kamala, what's up?" Sam asked, turning around to go back to her.

"Oh, dear God," she whispered in horror.

"What?" Anya asked.

"Remember when that one girl in the subway station in Flatbush? Her head was missing?"

"Don't remind me," Sam said, shuddering at the thought.

"I know why now," Kamala said. "Just think: ever since Miles and Anya got those weird powers-"

"They're not weird!" Anya said, coming over to her.

"They are and you know it!" Kamala sighed and went back to what she was trying to say. "Anyways, what if...what if this freaky thing-what's her name, Miles?"

Miles gulped in fear and looked at all his friends. "She called herself 'Shathra'."

"Right, what if this She-Ra chick-"

"Shathra."

"-is killing people that are just like Miles and Anya, and they're the lucky ones?" Kamala offered.

"You might have a point there, girlie," Sam said. "But why? Why now?"

"I don't know," Kamala replied. "But look: it doesn't matter why she's here. The only thing that does matter is making sure that she doesn't get Miles or Anya."

"Well, ahem, you get on that, and I'm going home," Sam declared, getting ready to take off on his bike. Before he could, America grabbed him by the arm.

"Where ya think ya goin' _pequeño_?" America said.

"Where it's safe, girlie!" Sam answered. He turned to look at Miles. "Dude, this was supposed to be the weekend where all we did was watch anime and eat junk food. And I still wanna do that! What I don't want is to wake up murdered tonight or tomorrow! Or any freakin' day!"

"Sam! What the eff?!" Kamala said.

"It's better to be a live chicken than a dead duck, am I right?" Sam retorted.

"I thought we were friends, Sam!" Miles said.

"GUYS!" Anya called out. "Stop fighting, ple-"

The tingling in Anya and Miles head erupted once more, making the two look at each other. "W-W-What's that?" Miles asked, stammering.

"I don't know. M-maybe we should get outta here, guys," Anya suggested.

The five kids all got back on their backs, ready to head to the nearest subway station. However, something caught onto the tires of Miles' bike and made him fall over and hit his head.

"Miles!" Anya exclaimed, turning her head back. She got off her bike and ran back to help Miles up.

"You ok?" Anya said, grabbing Miles' hand as he got up.

"Yeah," Miles answered, holding the side of his head. "It's just a little bumped head, I'll be co-"

*CLANK*

Miles and Anya jumped as they turned around and looked to see a sole sewer lid on the street.

*CLANK*

"What is that?" Miles said.

*CLANK*

"Hey! What's goin' on here?" America said, with Kamala and Sam following suit.

The final clank sent the sewer lid flying upwards into the sky. To the surprise of all of them, nothing came out. However...

"Anya?" a voice from the sewers called out, making the aforementioned girl's eyes widen.

"M-mama?" she whispered.

"Anya, _mija_, please help me!" the voice said.

Miles shook his head. It couldn't be her; Sofia Corazon died when Anya was a baby. _'__It's a trick,'_ he reasoned.

Miles quickly grabbed Anya, who was slowly approaching the sewer hole. "No! What you doing, Anya?!"

A black hand burst from the sewer hole and Shathra arose, floating in the air. The buzzing of her wings permeated the air. "Found you. Found both of you," she growled.

"Th-that her, dude?" Sam asked, terrified.

Miles ignored the question and could only say one thing: "RUN!"

The five kids, screaming loudly, wasted no time in getting up and running off, leaving their bikes behind. Shathra hissed and took off after the group.

"OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod," Kamala screamed.

Miles panted as he and his friends ran. He jumped over a small fence with Anya behind him. "Just keep running, son!" he yelled out.

As the friends turned the corner, they discovered that somehow, Shathra had teleported to be right in front of them. "No way out," she growled. She made a quick dive for Miles, only to miss when Kamala pushed him out of the way.

"Hey, freaky bug-lady!" America taunted, throwing a broken off pipe at her. "Come get it!"

An uninterested Shathra pushed America into a wall, incapacitating her. America gasped in pain on the ground as Sam went to help her up.

"What are you?!" Anya yelled out next to Kamala. Shathra unleashed one of her tendrils and grabbed Kamala by the leg, throwing her into a newsstand. That's the moment she decided to make a dive for Anya. The young Latina tried to run away, but alas, Shathra's superior speed ended it rather quickly. Anya squirmed in Shathra's arms as the horrifying creature licked her earlobe.

"CHICA!" America yelled.

"You'll make a great meal for me and my children, little spider," she whispered. She flew away at breakneck speed, leaving the other four terrified and confused.

"Oh no," Miles whispered. "Oh no, no, no."

"We gotta get her back!" America exclaimed.

"How?" Sam replied. "She took care of us like we were nothing!"

"We just gotta!" America answered.

Miles walked over to the destroyed newsstand and helped Kamala up. "You alright, son?" Miles asked.

Kamala nodded as she got up. "What happened?"

"She got Anya," Miles said in horror.

"Oh no."

"Yeah." Miles held his afro in utter horror. "I don't know what to do."

"Miles?"

"Yeah, Kamala?"

A moment of silence rang through the air as the two went back to the middle of the street where Sam and America were. "You good, girlie?" Sam asked Kamala.

"...I think I just crapped my pants," Kamala answered.

* * *

**1) Schoolboy Q ft. ASAP Rocky - Hands on the Wheel**

**2) What people in the other boroughs call Manhattan.**

**3) Read ETSC:R Vol. 3: All the Power, No Responsibility.**

**Read and Review. I'd appreciate it. :)**


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